Kelby Milgrim Ministries
First Great Awakening
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| George Whitefield |
THE GREAT AWAKENING
Between 1720 and 1750 a widespread and intense revival of interest in religion
occurred in the American colonies, a phenomenon that supporters called the Great
Awakening. The most famous contributor to this contagious religious response was
the English itinerant preacher George WHITEFIELD, who became the leader of
Calvinistic METHODISM. Other important figures included Theodorus Frelinghuysen,
a Dutch Reformed minister of New Brunswick, N.J., and Gilbert TENNENT, a
Presbyterian minister in the same town. They were joined in their common preaching
effort by Jonathan EDWARDS of Northampton, Mass., who provided the best
intellectual defense of the new emphasis on personal religious experience. Together
with many other clergymen who shared a heritage of Calvinistic doctrine, these men
stressed the importance of vital religious experience as the cornerstone of effective
religious life.
More conservative ministers did not welcome the turmoil occasioned by the Great
Awakening. Many resented traveling preachers who invaded their parishes and held
competitive religious services. Charles CHAUNCY of Boston argued that the new
enthusiasm was a form of spiritual derangement where emotions destroyed man's
rational control of his destiny. In spite of these opponents, thousands of individuals
experienced a new sense of dependence on God's will. Many churches were
revitalized, and new converts were added to the lists of faithful members.
Religious enthusiasm tended to wane after 1750, but it did not entirely disappear.
During the Revolutionary period many Methodist preachers kept the tradition alive in
their congregations. Beginning in 1795 and expanding tremendously through the
1840s, a new revival known as the Second Great Awakening appeared. Evangelists
such as Charles G. FINNEY emphasized free will, divine forgiveness for all, and the
need of each person to freely accept or reject salvation. The First Great Awakening
drew on Calvinist theology, while the Second relied on ARMINIANISM, which allowed
human decisions in the salvation process. But their common emphasis made revivals
a central feature of American religion through the years.
Henry Warner Bowden
Bibliography: Bushman, R.L., ed., The Great Awakening (1989); Gaustad, Edwin S.,
The Great Awakening in New England (1968); Rutman, Darrett B., Great Awakening:
Event and Exegesis (1970).
Between 1720 and 1750 a widespread and intense revival of interest in religion
occurred in the American colonies, a phenomenon that supporters called the Great
Awakening. The most famous contributor to this contagious religious response was
the English itinerant preacher George WHITEFIELD, who became the leader of
Calvinistic METHODISM. Other important figures included Theodorus Frelinghuysen,
a Dutch Reformed minister of New Brunswick, N.J., and Gilbert TENNENT, a
Presbyterian minister in the same town. They were joined in their common preaching
effort by Jonathan EDWARDS of Northampton, Mass., who provided the best
intellectual defense of the new emphasis on personal religious experience. Together
with many other clergymen who shared a heritage of Calvinistic doctrine, these men
stressed the importance of vital religious experience as the cornerstone of effective
religious life.
More conservative ministers did not welcome the turmoil occasioned by the Great
Awakening. Many resented traveling preachers who invaded their parishes and held
competitive religious services. Charles CHAUNCY of Boston argued that the new
enthusiasm was a form of spiritual derangement where emotions destroyed man's
rational control of his destiny. In spite of these opponents, thousands of individuals
experienced a new sense of dependence on God's will. Many churches were
revitalized, and new converts were added to the lists of faithful members.
Religious enthusiasm tended to wane after 1750, but it did not entirely disappear.
During the Revolutionary period many Methodist preachers kept the tradition alive in
their congregations. Beginning in 1795 and expanding tremendously through the
1840s, a new revival known as the Second Great Awakening appeared. Evangelists
such as Charles G. FINNEY emphasized free will, divine forgiveness for all, and the
need of each person to freely accept or reject salvation. The First Great Awakening
drew on Calvinist theology, while the Second relied on ARMINIANISM, which allowed
human decisions in the salvation process. But their common emphasis made revivals
a central feature of American religion through the years.
Henry Warner Bowden
Bibliography: Bushman, R.L., ed., The Great Awakening (1989); Gaustad, Edwin S.,
The Great Awakening in New England (1968); Rutman, Darrett B., Great Awakening:
Event and Exegesis (1970).
| Jonathan Edwards |
| John Wesley |